A collective gasp sounded from the student audience as smoke wafted into the stands from a surprise explosion. The only person who even dared to move was a certain blonde-haired dragon as she stuffed a piece of paper, with a strange etch drawn on it, and a red pen into her pocket. The reason for the audience's near-comatose state was displayed right for all to see. Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, who rarely took a hit, had just lost nearly 20% of her aura in a single attack. It was unheard of. It was unbelievable, and it was all because of some guy that had been cooking their lunches.
Pyrrha however, for all her doubts, wasn't one to disappoint her fans. In a matter of seconds, she was back on her feet and lunged halfway across the arena to get in close to Jaune. He blocked her first attack with his shield, but that was about all he managed. Pyrrha transformed her weapon into a rifle, shot his knee, then a spear to slash his side, then a sword which she used to stop Jaune's sword swing by stabbing into the inside of his elbow. Pyrrha's ability to quickly and fluidly transform her weapon and fighting style at any moment was what made her shine. Opponents often said in interviews that it was like fighting three people at once, and it was something Jaune was experiencing firsthand.
A wave of relief washed over the student body as the assault continued and Jaune was clearly unable to keep up. That first strike had been nothing more than some petty trick in a vain attempt to end the fight before it got started. Now that he had failed there was nothing to do but sit back and watch the arrogant cook get the beat down he deserved.
In a brief moment to catch her breath, Pyrrha lightened her barrage leaving Jaune with enough room to get an attack in. He pulled his sword back and swung for her neck. It was a solid textbook attack, but it was telegraphed to the point where even a first-year Signal student would have been able to avoid it. Automatically, Pyrrha brought her shield up to block it, but just as the blade should have collided with her defense, Jaune loosened his grip as if he was going to drop his weapon, but his weapon never did hit the floor. Instead, it disappeared entirely and all that was left was Jaune's arm swinging out in front of her. It wasn't like that for long though. Once his arm swung past her shield, he tightened his grip and suddenly the sword was back except now it was inside her guard.
Pyrrha desperately tried to avoid the blade and even tapped into her semblance, but Jaune's sword was simply too close and too fast for her to do anything. The heavy swing dug into Pyrrha's unprotected neck like an artillery strike causing her aura to crackle throughout the stadium. In order to somewhat lessen the damage, she fell with the swing. Of course, while her movement was a good tactical decision, to the audience it had probably looked like Jaune's sword had not only phased through her shield but had knocked her off her feet.
Pyrrha could feel their judgmental stares asking her how she, the Invincible Girl, could allow herself to be hit like that. None of them would have been able to do anything different, but she was expected to be better, to be invincible, as if she wasn't just as human as the rest of them. The stares only grew more insistent when one looked at the aura readings. Despite the one-sided assault Pyrrha had delivered onto Jaune his aura was still solidly in the green while hers was teetering above yellow.
Pyrrha quickly recovered, but Jaune had used that time to back off and put some distance between them. Pyrrha didn't see any firearms on him so more distance should've been a poor decision that put him at a disadvantage, yet Jaune had proven he wasn't stupid. If he wanted distance between them, then there must have been a reason for it. Regardless, if he wanted a long-range fight, she wouldn't give it to him.
She flung her shield at his head which he easily blocked with his sword. That wasn't a problem since that attack wasn't meant to hurt him but cut off his line of sight. He couldn't see how quickly she was approaching and by the time she used her semblance to catch her shield, she was already within striking range. There was a problem though. While her shield had obscured her from his sight, it had also obscured his face from hers and when the veil was lifted she didn't see the confused shock she was expecting. Instead, he wore a calm smile.
Pyrrha didn't have much time to think about it before something slammed into her gut. It didn't do a lot of damage to her aura, but it knocked the wind out of her and she stumbled backward so Jaune wouldn't be able to take advantage of the opening.
Glancing to see what on Remnant had hit her, Pyrrha saw Jaune holding a shield with its edges instead of the flat facing towards her at the perfect height to have struck her stomach. He certainly hadn't been holding a shield before now, so Pyrrha could only conclude that he had obtained it the second she had gotten close enough to him. It was very possible, likely even, that Jaune hadn't actually made an attack. He had just summoned his shield and let Pyrrha run into it all on her own.
Jaune didn't chase after her. He held his position, his sword, and new shield, at the ready. "See, I told you I'd be fine," he said smugly.
Pyrrha wanted to laugh, but that would have been unbecoming of her. Instead, she hid her smirk with her shield. "I guess you did, and I'm sorry for underestimating you. Now I'll get serious.
Jaune didn't hesitate to chuckle, and Pyrrha was jealous of that. "You're telling me that you weren't already?"
If anyone could see the fiery expression of Pyrrha's lips it would be plastered on the front page of every newspaper and journal with the headline of something like, "Invincible Girl Loses it after Taking Multiple Hits from Combat Amateur. Secret Psycho?" That didn't matter though; all that mattered was Jaune and her. She hadn't been in a fight like this for a long time. One where she was on the backfoot and the possibility of losing was actually real, and she wasn't about to let it go to waste.
Pyrrha licked her lips from behind her shield. "You have no idea."
She launched her spear at Jaune with the force of a bullet. He raised his shield to block, but Pyrrha called on her semblance and ripped the shield, and sword for good measure, from his hands. Both weapons vanished the moment they left his fingers leaving him wide open.
He didn't appreciate having his defense bypassed any more than she had, and he especially didn't like it when her spear collided with his face. A blow like that would have ripped through the skull of any normal person or Grimm, but Jaune was made of sterner stuff. That said the crack his nose made had the audience wincing.
Before Jaune could think about grabbing her weapon, she used her semblance to recall it while simultaneously using her semblance to transform it. By the time it reached her hand, Miló was in its rifle form and she didn't hesitate to fire it.
The bullet hit a still dazed Jaune in the neck causing him to fall on his butt. Strangely, he didn't seem like he was trying to get up as he gazed up at the arena ceiling with a far-off stare. Pyrrha was beginning to worry that in her euphoria she may have taken it too far. Never had she used her semblance like that in a spar since she knew better than anyone how overpowering and humiliating it could be.
However, those fears were quickly removed when a pillar of ice suddenly grew out of the ground beneath her feet. Pyrrha was quick enough to twist mostly out of the way, but it still caught the bottom of her jaw. The impact made her teeth rattle and forced her head to roll back, but through it all she kept her eyes on Jaune trying to figure out how he had launched such an attack.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Jaune was wiping away the etch he had secretly been drawing behind him while pretending to be disorientated.
He jumped to his feet looking as calm and calculating as ever, but on the inside, he was in a slight panic. No one had told him Pyrrha had a semblance strong enough to rip his weapons out of his hands! He tried summoning his shield once more in case it was some kind of fluke, but just as quickly as it appeared in his hand, it was ripped away and no amount of grip strength was going to allow him to hold onto it.
He hissed.
While losing his weapons wasn't the death blow it would be for most Huntsmen, it still put him in a very bad position. Without his shield, he had lost almost all of his defensive options. If Pyrrha got close enough, it would certainly be his defeat as there was no way he could hope to fend off her skills bare-handed.
Looking at the standings, Pyrrha only had about half her aura and while that was amazing all things considered, it wasn't enough. He was here to completely defeat her, not just damage her near hitless record. Unfortunately, he was starting to run low on tricks. His ability to summon and unsummon his weapons had already been gutted, and he needed time to draw his etches. Preparing one for Yang to use before the fight had been genius, but that was only possible because they had known exactly where Pyrrha would be at the start of the fight. Now that they were moving around there wasn't any way for Yang to help him. Shifting his thoughts to Emerald, who was pretending to do her job in the stands, he knew she was waiting for his signal to use her semblance to assist him, but it was too soon for that. Her semblance was his trump card, but if it was too clear that Pyrrha's senses had been tampered with, then even if he could argue that it had been his own powers that caused it, the audience still might dismiss the whole fight as a cheap setup.
Emerald's semblance had to be subtler than that. It had to be used in a situation where the audience would assume that it wasn't a power at all, but a mistake on Pyrrha's part. Show everyone that not only could Pyrrha be beaten but she could screw up just like everyone else.
That was the long-term plan, but at the moment Jaune was running away and doing everything in his power to avoid being decapitated by Pyrrha's shield as she kept throwing it at him. Decapitation he succeeded at avoiding, but damage was a different story. That shield came fast and seemed capable of switching directions at any time. He couldn't avoid it every time it came around, and when it did hit it hurt. He knew he was going to have bruises all over his sides and back when this was all over.
Maybe he should just be grateful that it was a shield coming after him and not Pyrrha's spear or rifle bullets. Why she wasn't doing either of those things seemed a little strange to him in addition to the fact she wasn't trying to catch up with him. She just kept chasing after him at a fixed distance.
Was she keeping away from him because she didn't know what else he could do and was being cautious? She was making sure to keep his whole body in sight, so she could see any movement he made. That was a blessing and an annoyance. A blessing because it meant she wasn't going to rush him down and end the fight right there, but annoying because it really did limit what he could do.
If he tried to draw an etch right in front of Pyrrha, she'd know how he was launching his attacks and could easily put a stop to it. Keeping her in the dark and making her second guess his abilities was his best chance at winning. With that in mind, he knew he had to cut off her line of sight even if only for a second.
To the awe of all that were watching, Jaune undid the buttons of his shirt. Removing your shirt was definitely an unconventional battle strategy, but Pyrrha realized what he was trying to do the moment he pulled the shirt off his shoulders and threw it behind him. The floating white fabric obscured Jaune's frame as it covered her vision. She was quick to knock the obstruction away with her spear, but by that time Jaune had already changed his course and was running directly at her with his fists raised.
It was a bold move, but Pyrrha wasn't just going to stand there and let him charge her. She recalled her shield and met Jaune head-on where it became very apparent that he was no master at unarmed combat. Pyrrha tore apart his guard and bashed, sliced, and slashed him in every way possible. The few punches he did manage to send her way were easily blocked or avoided. Still, Pyrrha was careful to keep an eye on his every movement prepared for any trick he might pull, and if that meant admiring his bare chest then that was just a bonus.
At some point, Jaune was forced down to one knee which caused him to reach out towards the ground behind him. Pyrrha recognized the move, back in Mistral she had fought in a few tournaments where the arenas had sand floors and sometimes desperate opponents would grab some and try to throw it in her face. Of course, the Beacon arena didn't have any sand for him to grab, but Pyrrha raised her shield to block for it anyway because if there was one person who'd be able to pull something like that off it'd be Jaune.
Her intuition was proven incorrect when Jaune did perform the action of throwing sand in her face but instead used the movement to grab the top of her shield. His grip was strong and Pyrrha found it too difficult to just yank it away from him. She slammed the hilt of her sword into his side and even though he grunted in clear pain he refused to let go. She heard something that sounded like scratching from the other side of her shield, but she ignored it to deliver another hit to Jaune's ribs. After several of those blows, he finally let go, leaving them back where they started with Jaune completely unable to defend against her sword swings, but there was something else going on.
Pyrrha's shield felt strangely hot. That unpleasant feeling grew until it felt like she was holding onto an oven. She tried to ignore it, but when her aura started to take damage she had to let it go.
Jaune used the opportunity to be more aggressive in his attacks, but even when disarmed of one of her weapons, it was child's play to push him back. At least, it was until Jaune decided to ignore the damage she was inflicting on him and charge right into her. That too would have been easy to avoid had he not suddenly summoned his shield. The abrupt occupancy of the space in front of her caused her arms to be pushed outward and Jaune was able to push his shield into her chest. It didn't hurt but with his shield wedged between them, there wasn't room for her to use her semblance to tear it away from him. Then the human tank that was Jaune Arc used his leverage to push her backward. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was attempting to push her out of the arena.
As if she was going to let that happen.
Pyrrha dug in her heels and pushed back. Unfortunately, that proved to be a mistake as the shield she had been pushing against suddenly disappeared causing her to stumble. She cursed herself for falling into his trap, but that didn't stop him from forcing his forehead into the bridge of her nose in what was a very painful headbutt.
Pyrrha forced herself through the pain to transform her weapon into its rifle form and shot Jaune in the face at point-blank range. One round was enough to convince him to back away, but she wasn't about to let him off so easily. Even if she couldn't carry her shield with her hands, she still could with her semblance. Honestly, it was a little invigorating to be using her semblance so freely after keeping it hidden for so long.
She launched her shield at Jaune like she had already done so many times before, but instead of letting it bounce off him, she stuck it to the side of his face like a magnet. The searing hot shield pressed into his skin and Pyrrha would admit to some sick satisfaction as she watched his aura trickle down. It was a taste of his own medicine if nothing else.
Surprisingly, Jaune didn't try to pull away from her shield. Instead, the madman grabbed a hold of it and wiped the surface with his sleeve. Pyrrha wasn't sure what the point of that was until she saw that his aura was no longer taking any damage. He had undone whatever it was he had done to it in the first place. It was a bit disappointing, but it did allow her to recall her shield while Jaune was left panting for breath.
"You're not looking too good. Think it might be time to call it quits?"
"You know maybe you're right. It wouldn't be cool for us to take up the entire class time, so I think I'll end this right now." Jaune held out his arm and Pyrrha recognized it as the same pose he did in the training room. Pyrrha raised her shield and prepared for the spear of light that was bound to come.
Her prediction was correct, but the light spear didn't simply cut a straight path towards her. It sporadically moved through the air at sudden right angles all around the arena clearly trying to get around her guard. She had to keep shifting her feet and adjusting her shield to keep up with it while also keeping an eye on Jaune. He wasn't moving so either controlling his spear required too much concentration or he had something else planned.
It turned out to be the latter when suddenly Jaune committed to a full sprint towards her. Between an unarmed Jaune and a silver spear of light, it was easy to determine which one was the bigger threat. The light still whipped through the air at incredible speeds, but as Jaune got closer the spear did not, so Pyrrha decided that she was safe enough to briefly counter Jaune's charge. She pivoted to face him…and that's when it happened.
Something with extraordinary power struck her unguarded side and temporarily bent her entire body into a C-shape. Her aura screamed and through blurry vision she could see she had been hit by the spear of light—but that shouldn't have been possible. She could still see it flying above her. Where had this second one come from?
In the stands above Emerald smiled as she released her semblance causing the light spear that Pyrrha thought she had been tracking to vanish. To everyone else it simply looked like Pyrrha had misjudged the spear's location.
The impact was devastating. Pyrrha's body flailed along the floor like a ragdoll as she dropped both her weapons. No amount of fancy footwork or special flips could save her as she was launched far outside of the arena boundaries and into the wall where she left a human-sized dent and several other cracks. She stayed embedded there for a moment, as if frozen in time, before coughing up a good amount of saliva and air then falling face down on the floor; her aura making one last effort to protect her before shimmering away.
The world fell into still silence. People could hear their own heartbeats as the reality of what they had witnessed started to settle in.
"Winner by ring out and aura depletion, Jaune Arc." Even Miss Goodwitch stated it is more of a question than an announcement, but no one's disbelief came even close to the shock Pyrrha was feeling herself as she laid face down on the ground.
"I lost?" she whispered as if she was testing the words on her tongue.
"You did," A hand reached down to her, "but it was a good match."
Pyrrha looked up at her opponent. She was often on the other side of this exchange, but this was the first time she was the one being reached out to. It was a position the Invincible Girl should never be in, yet Pyrrha, the normal girl, felt almost tranquil as she took Jaune's hand and allowed him to lift her up.
There was no courtesy applause for the show of good sportsmanship. There wasn't much of anything coming from the baffled audience. Pyrrha was used to being the center of attention, but even she was unnerved by the silent stares.
A deliberate cough from Jaune grabbed everyone's attention. "Excuse me Miss Goodwitch, I may not be a student here but isn't this the time where you should be giving us feedback?"
The questioning of Miss Goodwitch's competence knocked her right out of her stupor, and what a stupor it must have been since she didn't even try to reprimand Jaune for his brash behavior. "You are correct, Mr. Arc. Miss Nikos, you are no doubt a smart and talented fighter, but I believe those two aspects worked against you in this battle. At first, you were too quick to underestimate your opponent's powers, but when you found you had misjudged, you were too quick to overestimate his versatility putting you at disadvantages you shouldn't have been. Be careful in the future as not all battles are as straightforward as they seem."
"Thank you for the advice." Pyrrha bowed her head secretly, happy that there was something she could try and improve on.
"Mr. Arc, your combat skills leave a lot to be desired. Were it not for your extraordinarily high amount of aura you would have been defeated many times over. Your offense is also too reliant on surprise and misinformation. This time it might have brought you victory, but now that we've all seen it, I have little doubt that if this battle was to happen again Miss Nikos would come out on top."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Pyrrha knew Glynda's harsh critique was to make her feel better, but her words were nothing more than empty platitudes. No one cared about what might happen in the future. The fact was that today she lost, and for some reason, she was okay with that.
"Miss Nikos, please return to the locker room and get cleaned up. As for you Mr. Arc, please refrain from interrupting my class again. If you wish to participate in the future, become a student. I believe you've shown you're more than qualified."
Jaune blushed. "Thank you Miss Goodwitch. I'll think about it."
The two teens made their way out of the combat arena with Jaune letting Pyrrha lean on him. That last attack had really done a number on her and she was finding it a bit difficult to walk. "How'd you do it?" she asked when they were away from the watchful gaze of the audience.
"Do what?" Jaune responded.
"Everything. Are you a dust master, or is your semblance really that versatile? I know Weiss can do some crazy things with hers."
"Do you really want me to tell you?"
"Please. It will keep me up at night if you don't." She would beg if she had to.
"Alright, but you can't tell this to anyone else."
"I promise."
With a roll of his eyes, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "The truth is that it's magic." A moment later he giggled to himself.
Anyone else would have taken that as a joke at their expense, but Pyrrha didn't take it that way. She had learned, through her many meetings with Headmaster Ozpin, that Remnant wasn't as clear-cut as she believed. Maybe—just maybe—Jaune was being 100% serious.
Three out of the four members of Team CLWN, the most humiliating team name in all of Beacon history, were sat around their dorm room listening to another one of Weiss' lectures. It was putting Cardin to sleep, but he knew that if he didn't at least pretend to listen then his partner would never let him hear the end of it.
It was mostly about their strategy for winning the Vytal Tournament which was something Cardin was down with, but Weiss was being so obnoxious about it that he could barely stand it. The matchups and arenas were randomized anyway, so it wasn't like they could really build any proper strategy. That wasn't going to stop Weiss from trying though. Right now she was going over what to do if they went up against Pyrrha in either the 1v1, 2v2, or 4v4 rounds, or in their case the 3v4 round since Ren wasn't going to be waking up in time to compete. Going up against Pyrrha's team already at a disadvantage would be a nightmare, but it wasn't like their other options were much better. Honestly, it had already been pretty much assumed that Pyrrha would win the entire tournament, but seeing her be defeated in Miss Goodwitch's class seemed to have lit a fire under Weiss where she believed they could do it too. Even he would admit he was a bit more optimistic about their chances now that the Invincible Girl had proven she wasn't so invincible, but it was still a long shot.
"Why are we even talking about this!'' The last present member of team CLWN shouted as fed up with Weiss' lecturing as he was although for entirely different reasons. "Who cares about a stupid tournament when Ren is in the infirmary and we still don't know who did it."
Weiss reluctantly paused her lecture to address Nora's outburst. "I know how you feel, but—"
"You don't know! All you ever talk about is how we're going to win this tournament, or how we should be training more or doing better on our test. You haven't talked about Ren at all. Have you ever visited him? Do you even care?"
Weiss' flush was easily visible on her pale skin. "Of course I care. Ren is my teammate too, but the attack already happened. There's nothing we can do but be vigilant."
"We can't do anything, or you won't do anything? If we just dropped out of this stupid tournament we could try and find the culprit ourselves."
"That's something we should leave to people better qualified. I happened to have it on good authority that the proper authorities are taking this seriously." Although why the SDC's spy would challenge Pyrrha to a duel was beyond her. "The best thing we can do for Ren is strive to be the best team we can be for when he returns."
Nora crinkled her fists. "Winning this tournament isn't going to make your dad take you back as the heiress."
Weiss stepped back like she had been slapped. "How dare you. That is not what this is about."
Before Nora could say anything else a hand softly grabbed her shoulder. "Now Nora please calm down. I'm sure Weiss is just as worried about Ren as you, but you have to remember she also has her responsibility as team leader."
Cardin scoffed at how easily the fourth person in their room was able to calm Nora down. Sulfur wasn't even on their team, yet ever since Nora's precious boyfriend had been hospitalized she had been attached to Sulfur at the hip like a lost dog.
Cardin had never liked Sulfur. The guy was just so arrogant, always acting like everything would always go his way. That stupid fake smile he was always wearing also pissed Cardin off. No one should be allowed to look so pleased with themselves all the time. Unfortunately, Cardin was in the minority with his opinion. Nora obviously adored him and Weiss liked him well enough which was why he was allowed to hang around their dorm like it was his second home.
"Thank you, Sulfur. I'm glad at least someone has a level head around here." Weiss stated.
Nora growled, but Sulfur was quick to interrupt. "That being said. As team leader, It's also your duty to consider your teammates' well-being. Nora and Ren have been friends for a long time. You can't just force her to stop thinking about him. I don't think your team will function very effectively in the tournament if you keep pushing her on it."
Weiss flushed and lowered her head. "It amazes me that a child could be made leader instead of you. Nora, I apologize if it seems I've forgotten about Ren. Perhaps it is possible I've been putting too much focus on the tournament as a way to cope."
Nora just nodded in agreement until Sulfur nudged her side. "Fine, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm just so worried about Ren-Ren. What if whoever did this to him tries again now that he's so vulnerable."
"I'm sure the staff is more than aware of the possibility of a repeat attack," Weiss paused, "but if it would make you feel better we could watch him on rotation. We could even have these meetings in the infirmary. It will be less private, but I doubt anyone would think to eavesdrop there."
"Thank you, and I promise to kick ass in the tournament."
Cardin couldn't believe it. Sulfur had gotten Weiss to apologize and Nora to agree to a compromise in less than a minute. This was a moment that should have gone down in the history books, yet he was sitting there like it was no big deal, to him it probably wasn't.
"I'm glad," the smug bastard said. "I'm rooting for you guys to win the whole tournament since Ruby and I aren't competing. I'd hate to see you fail just because you were fighting."
"You know, we might be able to convince Headmaster Ozpin to let you join our team for the tournament. That way we wouldn't be a person down." Weiss said.
"Oh, thank you for the kind offer, but I actually already have plans so I won't be able to."
"Really, what kind of plans?" Nora asked.
Sulfur's smile widened just a tiny bit, the only indication he gave that he was actually happy. It was even creepier than his normal painted-on smile. "Sorry, it's a secret, but I promise it will be exciting."
Several pairs of feet travel through the dimly lit halls of Beacon as the shattered moon watched over the city. "Remind me again why I had to get out of bed to come look at the combat arena," Russel complained.
Jaune sighed. "We need to make sure that Pyrrha's defeat actually caused her imaginary friend to disappear. If it's still around then I'm almost certain it will appear at the arena. I thought Yang already explained this to you?"
"She did, but I want to know why I specifically have to disrupt my sleep schedule to come out here. Isn't this something for you caretakers, or whatever you're called, to handle?"
"You're here as backup," Yang stated. "In case it turns out the mannequin is there and we have to fight it."
Russell deflated. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm not even fully healed from the last beating it gave me. I don't want to fight it again."
"If everything's gone to plan you won't have to," Jaune said. "This should just be a quick checkup."
"But what if we don't see the mannequin?" Sky asked. "Just because you beat Pyrrha in the arena doesn't guarantee it will be there tonight. It could just be somewhere else or might not even appear tonight at all. How will we know it's truly gone?"
"Jaune and I will be at Beacon until the festival is over so we'll keep a lookout for any suspicious incidents," Emerald assured.
Sky looked satisfied with that answer. "That's good, but man it's still so crazy to think that all this has been going on without anyone noticing. I mean who would have guessed magic was real and that all these attacks were because Pyrrha was accidentally using it."
Yang patted his shoulder. "Yeah, it was pretty shocking to me at first too, but it's surprisingly easy to adjust. If you think about all the crazy things dust and semblances can do without much explanation, then it's not that hard to accept magic too."
"It's not that I don't believe in it. It's more the idea of how much I didn't realize before. It's like thinking your house is the entire world and then opening up the front door to see millions of other houses, and dirt, and trees and animals and the sky. I can't even imagine what someone could do by mastering even a fraction of the unknown world."
"Thinking about becoming a caretaker?" Jaune joked.
Sky was quick to shake his head. "No, my life is crazy enough with the normal training that comes with Grimm slaying. I don't need all this other stuff piled onto it. Once this is done I'll be happy to never hear about the unknown world ever again."
Russel scoffed. "I doubt we'll be so lucky. This seems like the kind of thing that once you know you're locked in forever."
The entire group nodded in agreement as they approached the arena doors. They were locked, but one of the perks of Emerald being the school janitor was that it only took a quick swipe of her scroll to solve that problem. The stands and arena were as quiet as could be, but that didn't mean the room was empty. Far from it.
"Damn it," Jaune cursed. Standing in the dead center of the combat arena popping out against the dark shadows with its stark whiteness was the mannequin. Pyrrha hadn't dismissed it.
"Great, what do we do now?" Yang whispered.
Jaune didn't answer as he looked down at the mannequin. He may have been wrong around it disappearing upon Pyrrha's defeat, but such a blow to her image had to have affected her imaginary friend in some way. That seemed pretty clear since right now the mannequin wasn't doing much of anything when in every other encounter it had been furiously aggressive. He also doubted it was just a case of it not having noticed them yet. "I think it might be dormant."
Yang stared at the creature for a bit. "Only one way to find out for sure." She kicked the chair in front of her as hard as she could, creating a sound that echoed around the room and probably giving Russel and Sky small heart attacks. The mannequin didn't react at all. "Guess that settles that."
The group spread out around the stands a bit as it became increasingly clear the mannequin wasn't going to attack them. "Should we try and kill it?" Russel asked. "It might be vulnerable now."
Jaune thought so too. If Pyrrha's image of herself as the Invincible Girl had been broken then it was reasonable to assume that her imaginary friend had its invincibility broken too. He asked Emerald to shoot the mannequin in the head which she did after some brief hesitation. The bullet pierced the mannequin's head, but other than spraying some of the mannequin's white body onto the arena floor nothing happened. Next Emerald and Jaune worked together to cut off its head, but that only left the head floating in the air a little above its severed neck. This left them in the awkward position where they weren't in any danger, but they also couldn't do anything to kill it.
"Should we just leave it alone?" Yang asked.
"Even if it's not a threat, leaving it here for anyone to stumble onto would be a disaster," Jaune replied.
"Then what do you suggest because I'm not spending the rest of the night chopping this thing into little pieces," Russel said.
Jaune thought about it, but he knew there was only one possible solution. Even though he wanted to keep her out of this, that no longer seemed to be an option. "I think we have to get Pyrrha."
"There won't be any need for that," the girl in question spoke from the arena entrance, surprising all of them. Even the mannequin tilted its disembodied head to look at its creator.
"Pyrrha, what are you doing here?" Yang gasped.
She looked at them with a soft little smile. "I think it's to put an end to these attacks."
"I think what Yang meant to say is how did you know to be here?" Jaune clarified.
Pyrrha rubbed her arm. "After I lost, I thought a lot about that fight, and the more I thought the more I recognized that I was being naive thinking you were doing it just for me. You're here on a mission not to placate some lonely girl. I realized that you must have wanted to beat me for a reason and the only thing I could think of was that it was because I was somehow involved. When you mentioned magic it all clicked together." Pyrrha paused to take a deep breath probably to prevent herself from crying. "Everything that's been happening…it's my fault isn't it?"
"You shouldn't think of it like that. This isn't your fault." Jaune tried his best to come up with the right words. "No one could expect you to control something that you didn't even know existed." Jaune slowly explained everything to Pyrrha starting with the call he received from Yang all the way to this moment.
Pyrrha didn't say much during his retelling. She never displayed surprise or disagreed. She just accepted everything he said as fact no matter how fantastical it sounded.
"So this imaginary friend," Pyrrha said when the tale was over, "I created it because I was jealous. Because I hated being the Invincible Girl so much that I wanted to take it out on everyone else." Tears dripped down her cheeks.
"Wrong!" Yang cut in, crossing her arms into an 'X' and making a buzzer sound. "You didn't create this. If anything, that mannequin is the fault of all the people that placed these stupid expectations on you. So no more crying; get pissed instead. Curse the names of everyone that made you feel so alone."
"Would you slow down," Emerald yelled. "We don't want to accidentally give the mannequin new orders."
Pyrrha shook her head. "Don't worry, I could never actually hate my fans. Even if they can be frustrating, their support and belief is genuine."
Jaune smiled. "From what I've seen you deserve every bit of it. You're an incredible girl Pyrrha. You didn't need an imaginary friend to get where you are and you don't need one now." Pyrrha looked toward the plain white figure in the arena and Jaune could feel her apprehension. "Don't worry. We're all here with you."
Pyrrha wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "Yes. You've all been helping me out this entire time after all, haven't you?"
"Well, Jaune and I have. These two," Yang pointed to her teammates, "are just extra hands, and this one," the finger moved towards Emerald, "has been switching between wanting to assault you and wanting to murder you for getting between her and her boy toy."
Russel and Sky immediately started protesting while Emerald slapped Yang's hand away which caused Pyrrha to giggle. Then it was full-blown laughter. It was something she hadn't done in a long time. It felt good. It felt natural.
"Even so, I appreciate everything you've all done," she said once she pulled herself back together.
Jaune gave her a simple thumbs up. "You've got this."
Pyrrha walked down to the arena to face the mannequin. They stood across from each other as if they were about to duel, but no weapons were drawn. Only words were needed for this battle. "I want to apologize." It was like she was talking to an old friend. "I never meant for you to exist, and I never wanted you to hurt anyone or fight on my behalf, but you did without me even knowing. I guess in your own way you really were trying to protect me, but what you were protecting me from never existed. You were created to bear the burden I became too weak to carry, and that never should have happened. Thank you for everything, but from now on, I can handle my own problems no matter what they are. Please, you don't need to protect me."
The mannequin, having remained motionless during Pyrrha's whole speech, dropped to one knee and bowed to Pyrrha like an old knight then it disappeared like it had never been there at all.
Pyrrha walked back up to the group in silence. She looked tired but at the same time more real than she ever had before. "How'd I do?"
"I think we can call this mission accomplished," Jaune said.
"Hell yeah, we can!" Yang jumped for joy. "It's finally over."
While Yang was celebrating, Pyrrha was twiddling with her fingers and bouncing on her feet like a nervous grade-schooler. "Um, so I know this wasn't the best start but do you think we can all be friends from now on?" She addressed it to the whole group but no one could miss the pointed stare directed at Jaune.
Before Jaune could say anything stupid, or Emerald anything snarky, Yang saved them by hopping over to Pyrrha and giving her a one-arm hug. "Of course we can. You can't all go through something like this and not be friends afterward. In fact, we're going to have a party to celebrate being done with all this crap."
"Tonight?"
"Yes indeedy."
"No we ain't," Russel stepped in. "It's late and I want to go to bed."
"I actually have to agree," Pyrrha said sheepishly. "I want to be well-rested for the tournament tomorrow."
"Boooooo, but fine. I guess I do have to sneak in some alcohol, but tomorrow for sure."
"That's fine with me."
After a little more discussion and congratulations the group headed back to their respective rooms, but Jaune held Pyrrha back for a brief moment.
"There is one last thing I wanted to ask you. You said that when I mentioned magic it all clicked together. Why? Did you already know about magic?"
Pyrrha looked away. "Do you remember that opportunity I talked about when you were in my room? Let's just say it wasn't an offer that gets offered to most people, even people as famous as me."
"I see." Jaune didn't want to push any harder. "And did you decide on your answer?"
"I think I have."
Ozpin wasn't unused to having late-night visitors, but even among those this was an important engagement."
"Thank you for seeing me so late, Headmaster." Pyrrha Nikos bowed.
"Think nothing of it. It is my duty to see to the needs of the students no matter the place or the time. Now, what can I help you with?"
"I wanted to inform you about my decision on your generous offer."
"Excellent, we can begin the transfer immedia—"
"I've decided to decline becoming the next Fall Maiden."
Ozpin froze.
"I'm sorry for taking so long to decide. I'm sure that inconvenienced you, but I believe someone more qualified and prepared should be asked to handle this responsibility."
Ozpin could hardly believe it. "Miss Nikos, I asked you to become the maiden because I believe you are the most qualified. Your abilities are second-to-none."
"Thank you for saying so, but I don't think I'm ready to take on such a commitment. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Ozpin's leg was shaking under his desk. "I'm not disappointed. If you really don't want to become the next maiden then that is your choice, but if you reconsider please know the offer will still be available at least for a little while. You could help a lot of people."
"Thank you, but I've been thinking about this a lot and decided that I want to listen to what I want, not what others want from me.."
"I understand. Have a nice night and good luck in the tournament."
"Thank you, sir."
Ozpin dropped the friendly expression the moment Miss Nikos left his office. This was a disaster. She was the perfect candidate and he had been so sure she was going to accept. What could have changed?
Ozpin rubbed his forehead feeling a migraine coming on.
He needed to find a new candidate as he had learned from experience that even a suboptimal maiden was better than a reluctant or forced one. He only feared that with all the worrying signs that had been taking place in Vale and Beacon that there wasn't any time left.
Damn it. What was he going to do?
Excerpt from Cryphilictal Library
In a slightly different reality, or perhaps a different time, the Fall Maiden, Pyrrha Nikos would meet her end at the top of Beacon's tower. It was a tragic fate, but in a situation where the maiden refused to run, how could it have been avoided.
It wasn't that the maiden wasn't strong. She had been throwing herself at tough opponents since she had been a child and had crushed them all, so who was she supposed to go up against to prepare her for that final encounter.
It wasn't that the maiden wasn't smart. She had top grades and had plenty of experience when it came to strategy and planning, but what problem could she have solved or secret could she have uncovered to take advantage of her enemy.
No, what the Fall Maiden lacked was a sense of creativity. A way to break from the norms of combat. There were many options available to her from her semblance to her new powers but she failed to use them in a way that would have defied tradition.
In a fight—a real fight—if you aren't cheating you aren't winning, and if you get caught that is only proof that you weren't cheating hard enough.